And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. Ver. 1. _And Joshua gathered all the tribes to Shechem._] The chief city of Ephraim, near to old... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. Ver. 2. _And Joshua said unto all the people._] Besides what he had said... [ Continue Reading ]
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. Ver. 3. _And gave him Isaac._] _Effaetae fidei filium,_ the heir of the covenant, and therein more happy than his brother Ishmael, with all th... [ Continue Reading ]
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. Ver. 4. _But Jacob and his children went down into Egypt._] Where they were held under hard servitude, while Esau and his posterity flourished in mount Seir, having... [ Continue Reading ]
I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. Ver. 5. _And I brought you out._] As brands out of the fire; as many of you here present as were then under twenty years of age: and a great mercy it was to be pulled out of... [ Continue Reading ]
And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. Ver. 6. _Unto the Red Sea._] Yea, into the Red Sea God made them a fair way till they were in the midst, and then overcovered them. Jos 24:7... [ Continue Reading ]
And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. Ver. 7. _And ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season._] Where ye had _... [ Continue Reading ]
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. Ver. 8. _And I brought you into the land of the Amorites._] Whose iniquity was now... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: Ver. 9. Then Balak … arose and warred against Israel.] He did not actually war against them. Jdg 11:25 _Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur,_ saith Ribera... [ Continue Reading ]
But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. Ver. 10. _Therefore he blessed you still_] Though full sore against his mind, as loath to lose so fair a preferment; till at length he resolved to curse, whatever came of it, and therefore went... [ Continue Reading ]
And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. Ver. 11. _And the men of Jericho fought agains... [ Continue Reading ]
And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, [even] the two kings of the Amorites; [but] not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. Ver. 12. _And I sent the hornet before you._] _Crabrones, sive muscam venenatam: Metaphorice de terrore illis incusso,_ saith Piscator; It is to... [ Continue Reading ]
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. Ver. 13. _And cities which ye built not._] For Hazor only was burnt, Jos 11:13 and the rest inhabited by them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. Ver. 14. _And put away the gods._] _Deastros illos,_ which some of them secretly worshipped, as they did likewis... [ Continue Reading ]
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Ver. 15. _Choose yo... [ Continue Reading ]
And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; Ver. 16. _God forbid that we should forsake the Lord._] And yet they did thus, not long after Joshua's death. It is ordinary with the many headed multitude to turn with the stream, to tack about to ev... [ Continue Reading ]
For the LORD our God, he [it is] that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: Ver. 17. _He it is that brought us... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: [therefore] will we also serve the LORD; for he [is] our God. Ver. 18. _We will also serve the Lord; for he is our God._] To make the Lord to be our God, it is required, saith a reverend man, that with... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he [is] an holy God; he [is] a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. Ver. 19. _Ye cannot serve the Lord._] You that are yet unregenerate, and that would fain make a mixture of religions, cannot serve the Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. Ver. 20. _And consume you, after that he hath done you good._] _Ingentia beneficia, flagitia, supplicia._ From apostates God will take away his own and be gone, Hos... [ Continue Reading ]
And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. Ver. 21. _Nay; but we will serve the Lord._] Only and wholly, for subject and object. This was well resolved, if as well practised. These here were ready to enter into covenant, and so to bind their deceitful hearts to a good abearan... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye [are] witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, [We are] witnesses. Ver. 22. _Ye are witnesses against yourselves._] In case ye falsify ye shall be self-condemned, and cut of your own mouths God shall judge you: m... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore put away, [said he], the strange gods which [are] among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. Ver. 23. _Now therefore._] Set forthwith upon the work of reformation which you have covenanted. _ Put away the strange._] Out of doors with those Balaam's blocks, those m... [ Continue Reading ]
And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. Ver. 24. _The Lord our God will we serve._] They bind themselves again to keep touch with God by an unalterable resolution. Vows rightly made and renewed are of singular use to keep the heart within the bou... [ Continue Reading ]
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Ver. 25. _And set there a statute and an ordinance._] _Capita faederis ex Deuteronomio praelegit,_ saith one; he read them the Articles of the Covenant out of Deuteronomy.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that [was] by the sanctuary of the LORD. Ver. 26. _And Joshua wrote these words._] This whole book, or the most part of it, _see _ Jos 1:1 and particularly the Acts of this present... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. Ver. 27. _Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us._] It shall represent your... [ Continue Reading ]
So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. Ver. 28. _So Joshua let the people depart._] With their hearts full of joy at the covenant. "For they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire," as 2 Chronicles 15:15 .... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, [being] an hundred and ten years old. Ver. 29. Joshua … the servant of the Lord, died.] This was the crown of all his commendation, and a greater title to be engraven on his tomb, than his was, who ar... [ Continue Reading ]
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which [is] in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. Ver. 30. _In Timnathserah._] _See Trapp on "_ Jos 19:50 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. Ver. 31. _See Trapp on "_ Jos 23:8 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. Ver. 32. _Buried they... [ Continue Reading ]
And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill [that pertained to] Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim. Ver. 33. _In a hill that pertained to Phinehas._] Or, In Gibeathpineas, the name of a city, bearing his name. _ Which was given him._] By the synagogue, sait... [ Continue Reading ]